Re-embroidering life

That night, Shui Qinghua kept the lights on in her room. She drew all the needlework techniques she saw from the old woman. These complex needlework techniques, whether in the angle of needle insertion, the direction of embroidery, or the effect of embroidery, were very different from Suzhou embroidery. She studied eagerly.

After sleeping for only two hours, she rushed to South City early in the morning and brought hot soup dumplings and tofu pudding from Debiju for breakfast. As expected, when Qiong Niang saw the soup dumplings, her eyes lit up, "Debiju's soup dumplings are a must-try. Thanks to you, I finally get to eat them!"

Shui Qinghua was very happy to see that she liked it: "If you like, I will bring it to you every morning."

"Okay!" Qiong Niang is a typical Jiangxia lady, bold, straightforward, warm-hearted and cheerful.

The old woman, should be called Granny Zheng, finished her tofu pudding slowly, squinted her eyes to bask in the sun, and then found a shady place to start embroidering.

Today she embroidered a lotus. Shui Qinghua had embroidered many lotuses, so it was easy for her to do it, but Grandma Zheng's lotus was different. Both the color and the pattern were bolder. The green lotus leaves were almost covered with embroidered silk, shiny and glossy. The edges of the lotus leaves were outlined with gold thread, and the golden luster flowed in the soft sunlight. The leaves were embroidered using the clip embroidery method, alternating dark green and light green silk threads. The veins of the leaves extended along the natural curves of the leaves with fine stitches, as clearly visible as the veins of real lotus leaves. At the edge of the leaves, the needlework changed to loose stitches, simulating the natural ups and downs and fluctuations of the lotus leaf edge.

Compared with lotus leaves, petals are much smaller. The surface is finely filled with silk thread with flat stitch. The color gradually changes from light to dark, showing the natural texture and layers of lotus petals.

For a moment, Shui Qinghua seemed to be in a lotus pond in midsummer, with endless green lotus leaves reaching the sky.

"Flowers grow on branches, leaves grow on flowers, and branches grow on leaves." Granny Zheng suddenly spoke, breaking Shui Qinghua's reverie.

"Mother-in-law, what did you say?" Shui Qinghua didn't hear clearly.

"You just need to remember eight words: Flowers have no true fruits, and excitement comes first. This is what my master told me." Granny Zheng said with her unclear pronunciation.

Shui Qinghua pricked up her ears, trying hard to distinguish every word her mother-in-law said, not daring to miss a single word.

Granny Zheng pointed to the circle of gold thread on the edge of the lotus and said, "This is called 'flat gold and embroidery'. 'Flat gold' means laying the gold thread flat on the base satin, and 'embroidery' means using other thin threads to sew the gold thread onto the base satin at intervals to fix the gold thread. Peonies and orchids in spring, lotus and reeds in summer, chrysanthemums and red leaves in autumn, and plum blossoms and camellias in winter all grow on the branches of 'flat gold and embroidery', making the flowers appear delicate and gorgeous."

After saying that, Granny Zheng kept embroidering and explaining the needlework techniques. There are pad stitch embroidery, laying stitch embroidery, pattern stitch embroidery, floating stitch embroidery, closed stitch embroidery, moistening stitch embroidery, convex stitch embroidery, and gold piling embroidery. There are so many needlework techniques that Shui Qinghua was dazzled and couldn't remember them all.

Qiong Niang was rubbing clothes on the side. She smiled at Shui Qinghua's bewildered look and said, "Mrs. Shui, don't be anxious. Just think about the temperament of Jiangxia people. Aren't we all impetuous and quick-talking? That's why our embroidery can't be fresh, elegant and refined. Just remember two words: lively!"

It was like opening a trap. The word "lively" gave Shui Qinghua a sudden enlightenment. Yes, lively. The bright and intense colors with strong contrast make it lively. The bold ideas and exaggerated techniques make it lively. The flowers on the branches and the leaves on the flowers make it lively!

Qiong Niang also mentioned personality. People are shaped by the environment they live in. People's personality will be integrated into their creations, and creations will in turn shape people. She learned Suzhou embroidery since she was a child, and followed the women from the south of the Yangtze River. As a result, she gradually developed a gentle and elegant personality. In contrast, her mother Li Da Niang, her elder sister Ming Hua, and her younger sister Yu Hua were all impetuous and straightforward.

She suddenly realized something. The reason why Ye Jincheng scolded her for learning Su embroidery when she was from Jiangxia was not just because of prejudice, but because he thought she was doing something inappropriate. If he hated her so much, why did he bring her to see Granny Zheng? Wasn't he afraid that if she learned Chu embroidery, it would make Si Yi Fang even more powerful? This Ye Dongjia was really hard to figure out.

Shui Qinghua put aside all distractions and focused on Granny Zheng's embroidery needle, memorizing every move in her mind. When she got home in the evening, she would record it overnight.

This went on for more than ten days. Shui Qinghua was so absorbed in her studies that she forgot everything else until someone pulled her out of her semi-crazy state.

"Master, if you don't care anymore, Shui Xiu Workshop will be in chaos!" Chen Jinlan was so anxious that she was about to cry.

In order to meet the deadline, the embroiderers at Shuixiu Workshop have resumed their embroidery training. Shui Qinghua has not shown up for several days, so Chen Jinlan and Shui Yuhua have no choice but to take over. They have only been learning the art for a few months, and they are still half-baked. How can they control these experienced embroiderers? Especially Meng Xiu Niang, who declared that she only obeyed Shui Niangzi, and no one else could be her teacher.

Shui Qinghua held her forehead with a headache. She had been so immersed in Chu embroidery recently that she almost forgot about the Shui Xiu Workshop. She felt really sorry for them.

She looked at Chen Jinlan apologetically and said, "I'm sorry. Please tell them that I will go to the embroidery workshop tomorrow afternoon."

The next day, Shui Qinghua showed up at the embroidery workshop on time, and the restless embroiderers finally calmed down a little. The petite Zhao Xiu Niang was the first to stand up and protest: "Mrs. Shui, you can't be so irresponsible to us. We signed a contract and each of us has to embroider ten pieces within the specified time. You delayed the time and we can't finish the embroidery on time. Who will be responsible for the loss?"

Shui Qinghua felt a little ashamed. What Zhao Xiu Niang said was right. She had indeed neglected the embroidery workshop recently. At the same time, she also felt that she was overwhelmed and incapable of doing so.

She let out a long breath and bowed to the embroiderers.

The embroiderers were stunned, and one of them exclaimed: "Mrs. Shui, you..."

Shui Qinghua stood up, looked at them and said sincerely: "I want to say sorry, it was indeed my negligence. But I didn't mean to ignore you. I'm learning a new skill recently, and it's a very demanding time. I can't give up easily. I promise that I will think of a way to take both into account and ensure everyone's learning progress."

The embroiderers fell silent. They all made their livings from embroidery and knew what it meant to learn a new skill. It was worth investing any effort and time. They all thought that Lady Shui's skills were already so great, but she was still learning new skills. They didn't know what the new skills looked like. Would Lady Shui teach them in the future?